Retired astronaut charged with murder in crash that killed 2 girls

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: CNN.com

(CNN)A retired NASA astronaut has been charged with murder following an auto collision in Alabama that resulted in the death of two girls.

James Donald Halsell Jr., 59, was arrested and charged Monday with two counts of murder in a possible DUI accident that killed Naiomi Deona James, 11, and Jayla Latrice Parler, 13.

Alabama Senior Trooper Reginal King said the girls were not wearing seat belts and were ejected from a vehicle Monday near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

James was pronounced dead at the scene, and Parler was taken to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, where she was pronounced dead.

Halsell logged more than 1,250 hours in space throughout five space shuttle missions for NASA, according to biographical data from the space agency. He commanded three of those missions before retiring in 2006. He led the space shuttle's return-to-flight planning team after the Columbia disaster in 2003.

</snip>

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/07/us/former-astronaut-arrest-crash/index.html

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[Journeyman]

1. Tragic in so many ways . . .

[Demobrat]

2. Why do otherwise smart people drink and drive?

Don't get it.

[bananas]

5. "10 empty sleeping pill packages" more likely the cause.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031401027.html

FDA Says Pills Can Cause 'Sleep-Driving'
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 14, 2007; 9:59 PM

WASHINGTON -- All prescription sleeping pills may sometimes cause sleep-driving, federal health officials warned Wednesday, almost a year after the bizarre side effect first made headlines when Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car after taking Ambien.

<snip>

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/01/can-ambien-and-other-sleeping-pills-cause-sleep-driving-and-sleep-eating/index.htm

Can Ambien really cause sleep-driving and sleep-eating?

Yes. But all insomnia drugs pose some risks—which is one reason you're usually better off with nondrug measures.

Published: January 31, 2014 06:00 AM

Q. I’ve heard a lot lately about the sleeping pill Ambien causing odd side effects, like sleep-driving and sleep-eating. True?

A. Yes. Ambien, Lunesta, and other newer insomnia drugs carry a warning that people who take them might attempt to drive or eat while still asleep with no memory of doing so. And long-acting Ambien CR (and generic) stays in your body so long it could impair your ability to drive the next morning. In fact, a number of celebrities—including Kerry Kennedy, Eminem, and Tom Brokaw—have reportedly blamed Ambien for causing impaired driving, memory lapses, and other problems. And several people accused of impaired driving, and worse, have even used the “Ambien defense” in court cases.

<snip>

[24601]

6. I'm a shift worker and my Dr. prescribed Ambien to ensure I can sleep during the day when I'm on the

mid shift. But I've never seen Ambien in packets.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Packages=bottles

Common prescription jargon (to laymen, like the reporter who wrote the article)

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Perhaps

their perceived mental superiority allows them to dismiss alcohol
as something that's not going to effect them that much

[valerief]

4. I'm totally baffled. White male astronauts don't get charged with murder. Ever. What am I missing?

[groundloop]

7. "the girls were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected..."

This could get complicated if the crash would have been survivable had they been wearing seatbelts.